That Tingle Means it's Working

Doesn't it set a wonderful example for democracy when leaders in this country, both Democrat and Republican, call for the ouster of the elected Maliki government in Iraq?

And now for your first lesson in elected democracy -- the coup d'etat.

Oh, and number two -- installing a CIA-backed emergency government.

But let's all see this for what it is: another excuse to buy this shitty war some more time.

The whole idea of the surge was to establish some semblance of security and provide "breathing space" so that the Iraqi leaders could make political progress. And while the military has done a better job creating pockets of security, even while overall violence is up from last summer, the political side of the equation has gone backwards. The Sunnis have left the government entirely, and an emergency summit designed at bringing them back in has failed. Half of the 36 ministries have withdrawn support for the government and don't even attend meetings. Which raises another question: how do you tell who is showing up when they're all on vacation?

So what do we do now? Try to install the Allawi government back in. That way, when General Petraeus testifies before Congress that the surge has not created an environment where political reconciliation could take place -- i.e. the surge has failed -- we'll then pretend that was because we had the wrong team in charge. But now we have the right team in charge! And you can't pull the plug now that we have the right team in charge! Just you wait and see! It's all going to turn out great! Just give us a couple more months!

And by months, I mean years.

Meanwhile, this is the kind of spin you get from the right wing, who likes to think that we're actually in control of this situation. Here's a recent National Review editorial:

"The fact is that the surge is President Bush's policy, and one that he implemented over the vociferous opposition of Democrats who thought the best strategy against al Qaeda in Iraq was to begin to leave. Now the surge has helped turn Sunni tribes against al Qaeda, advancing the goal that nearly everyone in the U.S. notionally shares of routing the terror group from Iraq."

Then, of course, there's the reality: it was the Sunnis in Anbar province who decided to create an alliance against the Al Qaeda types, and that happened before the surge even started. So we didn't do that. They did. We simply armed them, funded them, and helped them. But they're not on our side. They're on their side. They were shooting at us and blowing up our convoys just months ago. We didn't stop and suddenly realize that we're in love with each other. You're thinking of a Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie.

Plus, Anbar is entirely Sunni. It's like Utah for Mormons. So they don't have to deal with the Sunni-Shiite dynamic like the rest of the country. This is regular crazy Sunnis organizing against the extremely crazy Sunnis. With our guns and money. Is that the best we can do for now? Probably. Is it a long-term solution? Shit no.

So don't let them fool you with all the talk of "progress." They've simply, and for the 37th time, re-defined what "progress" means. And when we get to #65 - that more Iraqis have access to NFL Network than ever before -- I'll say, "Okay, okay. That is progress. ...Can we come home now?"

Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" which airs every Friday at 11PM.

Comments

[Progress08]

This old chestnut again. Didn't we fund and arm a group of whackos before????? Oh right Bin Laden and the Taliban started off as an extension of US foreign policy. Don't pay them, don't feed them. Get the fuck out of Iraq and address their civil war with diplomacy. In fact the United States should shut the hell up and sit down for a year. We need to recreate a decent reputation for ourselves and stop showing our asses (by ass I mean GW Bush and the Republican bomb first policy).

[Loonie]

Doncha just love it.

They haven't even finished one regime change and they already want to change it again.

[Worldreels]

I awoke this morning with the question, How did this country come to replicate Adolph's 1930's Germany? The answer was immediately apparent to me. Just as Adolph used MEIN KAMPF (written in 1925 and a German best seller by 1933) and revenge for WWI to launch his takeover of Germany, Bush has used THE BIBLE and 9-11 to take over this country. As one Amazon.com reviewer put it: "If you want to learn about why the Holocaust happened, you can't avoid reading the words, Mein Kampf, of the man who was most responsible for it happening." Is there really any difference? Reading Eric Hoffer's TRUE BELIEVER will tell you there is none.

Just as Adolph's National Socialism became know as the Nazi Party, so the Republican party will soon become shortened to the Anti-Tism Party. The great war on Terrorism. It is all so clear. Bush used the deaths of 3000 at 9-11 to start a war to colonize the oil nations and make the Middle East countries his little Europe. Just as the deaths of Jews became victory for Adolph, death means nothing but a body count to Bush. He proved that with his executions while Governor of Texas. The take over is all but completed.

More similarities: Adolph glorified the "Aryan Race," setting up fuck pads to impregnate blonde, blue eyes gals, to justify his mass murder while Bush is using the BIBLE and DEMOCRACY as a mark of his racial superiority, and to OK his mass murder.

[POSTHRUDAHART]

The 'VICTORY' that our douchebag leader declared on the deck of that aircraft carrier, was the victory of corporate amerika over the rest of us. He was right and still is about victory and progress, you just have to aquire the right perspective. Pelosi, Reed, Feinstein et al, have so don't expect any 'opposition' from the opposition. Amerika is fucked.

[GW Crow]

Bill, Bill, Bill...........you're having a fitful sleep......the war is over....have you forgotten May 1, 2003 & 'MIssion Accomplished'? Perhaps you were thinking of Osama...you know, the 'other guy'....the one Bush doesn't 'think of much'.....althoug I would suspect his speech writer wrote 'I don't think much of him'....yeah, that must've been it Bill....you were thinking of Osama stii running wild 'cause 'The Mission' (the other one) has been accomplished. Ah, it's time for a mid-day smoke to being me back to reality, so fare thee well for now Bill, and keep on keeping on.

[bluesnot]

We Americans, as usual, see ourelves as the main player when our importance has substantially been reduced. We just supply the money and the arms. The real players are the Persians, Arabs, Sunnis, Shiites and al Qaeda. They are just biding their time and positioning themselves, and probably immensely enjoying the show America is putting on.

[flatus]

Iraq provides us with a shining example of Democracy's Achilles' heal: a violent minority.

[Obama2008]

We can replace a president if we live in a Democracy? What are we waiting for? Keep talking Hillary and the U.S. will see you for what you really are -- a transparent panderer incapable of original thought.

[kentuck]

A dollar to a donut that the missing 190,000 weapons went to the Sunnis, whom we are now arming against the al Qaeda. of course, they would never shoot at an American or a Shia?
We are bribing both sides with American dollars. We are paying the Sunni $350 dollars per month and the Shia are getting $500 dollars a month. Why do you think Sadr has agreed to call a truce for 6 months. He has been paid off. That is the new American strategy.

[gvincent]

Al-Sadr wasn't paid off...he doesn't exactly need the money. The U.S. media demonized the guy for no reason and now we're surprised that his militia isn't trying to kill as many troops as they can. There is no reason to be as freaked out as we are about the possibility of him taking over Iraq.
http://www.crookedinc.com

[babylonandon]

Big disagreement on the whole "US demonized AL-Sadr bit".

At the start of the war I was reading a bunch of the Iraqi and soldier blogs and one of the most agreed upon hopes and most angry points by the Iraqi people (including people like Raed Jarjar) was that we should get rid of that butchering nutcase, Al-Sadr.

They were furious when we let him live and even more so that he is still growing in power. Most of them call him the second biggest menace to Iraqi peace and their futures next to Saddamn. He's now way out in first place.

[jpshotwheels]

You forgot about our Government offering men and women in our Country the $20,000 sign up bonus to join the U.S. Military, ship them to Iraq, with less than 30 days of training. They are bribing our own people to ship them off, get them killed in the hell hole of Iraq, that we created. These people are unbelievable.

My father was a die-hard Reaganite in the Air Force during WWII, if he was alive today, he would be having a tizzy over the Bush Regime, how they have destroyed the Republican party.

[ProgressiveChange]

Democratization is hard work. Maliki is no longer our S.O.B ... so we must find another S.O.B. Face-saving and stone-walling require flexibility to find the right combination of courrupt puppets to offer the appearance of progress. There is no substitute for trial-and-error.

[cycle3man]

You're doin' a heck of a job, Georgee!

[gemcando06]

Mission Sissmisson. Let's go home,USA

No benchmarks, no sh..

[rjcrane]

Bill Maher is absolutely correct. The entire game plan for Bush and the GOP is to keep moving the goalposts so this occupation won't end with the aid of enough spineless Dems until the next president takes office. They will do this by putting the blame on anything and anyone else but themselves trying to convince themselves and their supporters that making these minor tweaks will produce real change. Before it was the undisciplined Iraqis who were to blame. Now it's Maliki. And if Maliki is removed and/or replaced there is a very real chance of a Shiite hardliner aligned even more with Iran taking his place so things could actually get much worse even before this power vacuum is filled. If we can't believe a word Bush has ever said so far, we should believe him when he said he will keep troops in Iraq to win this war and leave failure to the next President.

I think any Dem who still believes if they wait it out long enough there will be enough GOP defectors to stop Bush's war before he leaves office, are only deluding themselves or thinking they can delude us into believing this nonsense. I am not convinced the Dems want to face the prospects of going into the next election being labeled as the "party who lost the war" and we all need to consider things could get much worse during a pullout before they get better. We still don't hear the leading Presidential contenders willing to call this war what it has always been: A horribly bad blunder that wasted and ruined the lives of millions of innocent people including the soldiers who had to fight in it, while wasting several trillion dollars of taxpayer monies that could have been better spent producing positive benefits worldwide.

So I believe the real considerations driving this whole debate are primarily political ones based around what would be best to win the next election.

RJ Crane, editor
topplebush.com

[ALBB]

I think you need to put this war into historical context.

The British and French divided the middle east during WWI and suppressed local opposition through force until 1952 when a British supported king, Fiasal took over then Saddam took control with the help of the US. Again its the US and the British that are using force to try and control this region by this war.

I think people in the middle east have had enough of other countries controlling them at the same time why should they step up and reign in the country if they don't have to and never learned how to on their own. Besides it was the British that clumped Iraq into one country whereas before it was two.

I think it's enough already get the F..k out and let Iraq finally figure it out for themselves. The problem is that The US can't as it's leaders are too self righteous about spreading our kind of democracy. Maybe the US is the one that needs a coup.

[alvail]

Let IRAN take over Iraq ,best suggestion from Amadidyourdad I"ve ever heard!